A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Quote of the Day
Both these sentiments are echoed in our own times by Bahá’u'lláh:
O Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.
(The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic No. 68)
and
O SON OF SPIRIT! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbour. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.
(Ibid: Arabic No. 2)
If only most of us could live according to those two principles the world would be transformed. How many times must they be repeated before we get the point?
Thank you Everybody Means Somebody!
SF City Attorney Files Amicus Brief On Behalf Of Federal Marriage Suit
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed the first amicus brief in support of Ted Olson and David Boies' federal marriage suit.
"The constitutional challenge to Proposition 8 in federal court persuasively argues that the measure's only conceivable purpose was to withhold honor and respect from the relationships of same-sex couples, and to do so to them alone," Herrera said. "This kind of discrimination against lesbians and gay men as a class has been remedied before in our federal jurisprudence -- in Romer v. Evans, in Lawrence v. Texas, and in other cases. The plaintiffs here make a compelling case for the federal courts to ensure that justice is done in California, and I am pleased to offer San Francisco's expertise to support their efforts." Herrera's brief additionally supports the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, which if granted would immediately require local governments in California to resume issuing civil marriage licenses to same-sex couples.Two days ago California Attorney General Jerry Brown said that Prop 8 be kept legal until the federal suit is resolved.
DOJ To Meet With GLAD, Lambda Legal, Others Over DOMA Challenges
Courtesy of JMG for this:
More reaction from the Obama administration. The DOJ has agreed to meet next week with Lambda Legal, Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and other LGBT orgs to "hash out how to proceed with pending DOMA cases." Via Greg Sargent:
Keep up the pressure, it's working.The Obama Justice Department has reached out to major gay rights organizations and scheduled a private meeting for next week with the groups, in an apparent effort to smooth over tensions in the wake of the controversy over the administration’s defense in court of the Defense of Marriage Act. Tracy Russo, a spokesperson for Justice, confirmed the meeting to me, after I posted below that top gay rights lawyers were miffed that administration lawyers had rebuffed their requests to meet and discuss ongoing litigation involving DOMA. At the meeting — which hasn’t been announced and is expected to include leading gay rights groups like GLAD and Lambda Legal — both sides are expected to hash out how to proceed with pending DOMA cases.
Labels: DOJ, DOMA, GLAD, Lambda Legal, LGBT righs, marriage equality, Obama administration
Who Could Vote for Hate?
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Christine Bowman
Congress and AG Eric Holder are Standing Up To Hate. Fundamentalists and GOP Disingenuously Ask, 'Hate? What Hate?'
Hate crimes are up -- especially against gays and Latinos. "There has been a documented rise in these threats of violence" which have been "stoked by extreme political rhetoric... sensationalism and irresponsibility that we've seen on talk-show radio and other forms of communication, like the Internet," Wade Henderson, head of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, reports.
A new and broader hate-crime bill that should help address the issue passed in the House in late April [vote summary here], and it is slated to be taken up by the Senate before August. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) introduced the bill, and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Arlen Specter (D-PA) are cosponsors. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) called hate crimes "a unique brand of evil" that distresses entire communities.
Paraphrasing a summary by the Human Rights Campaign, the bill would give the Department of Justice (DOJ) the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence when the perpetrator selected the victim because of their actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It would also let the DOJ aid state and local jurisdictions or take the lead in investigations and prosecutions of bias-motivated, violent crimes resulting in death or serious bodily injury. Finally, the bill would provide for grants to help state and local communities combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers or assist in investigations and prosecutions.
That is what is being done on the legislative side to keep America safe from ideologically-driven violence. Attorney General Eric Holder, too, is ready to fight back against crimes driven by hate. Tuesday, speaking before the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Holder was unequivocal in his support for the bill and vowed to use the full power of the DOJ to protect all Americans. Here's part of what he said:
Over the last several weeks, we have witnessed brazen acts of violence, committed in places that many would have considered unthinkable – a sacred memorial in the nation’s capital, a recruiting station for the nation’s armed forces, and a church in the nation’s heartland. The violence in Washington, Little Rock, and Wichita reminds us of the potential threat posed by violent extremists and the tragedy that ensues when reasoned discourse is replaced by armed confrontation. ...
But neither our respect for the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, nor our earnest hope for common ground, can justify the violence we saw in Kansas. We will not tolerate murder, or the threat of violence, masquerading as political activism. So let me be clear, the Justice Department will use every tool at its disposal to protect the rights ensured under our constitution. And we will do all that we can to deter violence against reproductive health care providers and to prosecute those who commit such violence to the fullest extent of the law. ...
The violence we have seen during the last month may seem daunting to some. But I view these tragedies as a call to action. ... Let us commit ourselves – regardless of party affiliation or political viewpoint – to the difficult work ahead: building an America in which the kind of violence we have seen these last few weeks is but a distant memory. And building an America in which all of our Nation’s citizens, in equal measure, enjoy the fruits of our founding documents. [our emphasis]
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090616.html
Holder also addressed voting rights: "Our commitment to Equal Protection -- and to full participation in our nation's elections -- will not waiver." (A case now before the Supreme Court of the United States challenges Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.) He said the DOJ's Civil Rights Division "is on its way to regaining its luster."
All that is music to progressives' ears, of course. Although Obama's attorney general has disappointed many in how he has continued some cases begun under the Bush Administration, he does stand up for principles, as when he argued for the release of the torture memos in April. And he told a West Point audience, "the strength of our nation has always been our ability to correct course ..."
Do not let it be said that the right wingers do not have their principles, too. They're just different. Ashley Horne, analyst for Focus on the Family Action, enunciated the do-nothing principle: "Hate-crimes laws are unnecessary in a civil society like ours based on the rule of law. ... Democrats in Congress who are pushing this legislation forward really just have a solution looking for a problem." Yes, the right stands firmly against "the homosexual agenda," as they put it, and against reproductive freedom. The recent hate-drenched shooters had principles, too. They just lacked certain others.
Hate crimes occur at least once every hour in the United States. Can the GOP come to grips with that? Can they cut loose their radical fringe and follow the lead of the "Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act" cosponsors Snowe and Collins? "Equal Protection" -- it's for all Americans.
Note: The bill's opponents identify the following as needing to hear from citizens:
x | Blanche Lincoln D- AR | 202-224-4843 |
x | Byron L. Dorgan D- ND | 202-224-2551 |
x | Herb Kohl D-WI | 202-224-5653 |
x | James Webb D- VA | 202-224-4024 |
x | Jon Tester D- MT | 202-224-2644 |
x | Kay Hagan D- NC | 202-224-6342 |
x | Kent Conrad D- ND | 202-224-2043 |
x | Mark Pryor D- AR | 202-224-2353 |
x | Mark Warner D- VA | 202-224-2023 |
x | Max Baucus D- MT | 202-224-2651 |
x | Michael Bennet D- CO | 202-224-5852 |
x | Robert C. Byrd D- WV | 202-224-3954 |
x | Russ Feingold D-WI | 202-224-5323 |
x | Ted Kaufman D-DE | 202-224-5042 |
x | Thomas Carper D- DE | 202-224-2441 |
x | Tom Udall D- NM | 202-224-6621 |
(OK, you've been warned)
Best response to all things homophobic. Viva la France! (thanks Dan)
Click here: YouTube - The GayClic Collab Against Homophobia (from France)
It's the French video response from http://www.GayClic.com readers to Stevie Bee Bishop's "Big Fat Gay Collab". Posted on the International Day Against Homophobia, May 17, 2009.
Conservatives Aren't Being Persecuted
http://www.truthout.org/061909O
Leonard Pitts Jr., The Miami Herald: "Modern conservatism is defined by an Alice-through-the-looking-glass incoherence: small government except when it is growing larger than ever, fiscal restraint except when we are spending like Michael Jackson in a Disney gift shop, foreign-policy pragmatism except when we are trying to transform the Middle East. Indeed, sometimes it feels as if it is no longer defined by principles at all, nor by energy and ideas, but rather, by a limitless ability to feel put upon and slighted."
Thursday, June 18, 2009
World Congress Latin American Development Fund
Perhaps you are fortunate enough to be a member of an LGBT synagogue or Jewish community group that is welcoming to Jews of all sexual orientations. In many communities served by the World Congress, Jews are unable to fully participate in Jewish communal life. (Read a succesfull story)
Please be a facilitator for them and help move your community and your family toward this goal. Help us continue helping.
Click here to make a secure online donation.
PO Box 23379 Washington, DC 20026-3379 USA
Or contact our treasurer treasurer@glbtjews.org
For more information about the program please contact coordinator@glbtjews.org
Yes on Gay Marriage
Gay Pride Month has been a great opportunity for volunteers to get involved with our Yes on Gay Marriage campaign. We are seeking 1,000,000 petition signatures to present to President Barack Obama during the National Gay March on Washington D.C. on October 11, 2009.
You can show your support by making a small donation and we will send you a Yes on Gay Marriage T-shirt, Yes on Gay Marriage Sticker, or both.
We are seeing new grassroots movement for equal rights, similar to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s. The young people in our community are hungry to get involved in this fight. They want their voices to be heard and they are angry that federal and state elected officials seem only to be paying lip service to their promises of fierce advocacy for equal rights for the gay community.
Yes On Gay Marriage Team Members are organizing petition drives at hundreds of local Gay Pride events and celebrations all over America. The new interest comes on the heels of the court’s decision to uphold Prop 8, a Justice Department brief comparing gay marriage to incest, the discharge of highly qualified and trained military personnel under the “Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell” policy and President Obama’s seemingly tepid support of equal rights for gays, a community that heavily backed his campaign for the presidency.
Happy Gay Pride Month!
Sincerely,
Dan Kirk
Gays in Great Danger in Iraq
By Bill Berkowitz, Religion Dispatches, June 15, 2009
After months of silence, the U.S. State Department finally condemns the murders of 24 young men who were gay, or perceived to be gay.
In 2005, during the height of internecine violence and resistance to the U.S. occupation, the country’s most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali a-Sistani, issued a religious decree that said that gay men and lesbians should be “punished, in fact, killed.” He added, “The people should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.” According to the New York Times, “The language has since been removed from his Web site.”
When al-Sistani talks, some Iraqis listen!
In early April, the New York Times reported that “The relative freedom of a newly democratic Iraq and the recent improvement in security have allowed a gay subculture to flourish here. The response has been swift and deadly.”
In late May, ABC News reported that “Two gay men were killed in Baghdad's Sadr City slum, and police confirmed they found the bodies of four more men, all killed during a 10-day period after an unknown Shiite militia group urged a crackdown on homosexuals in the country.” A month earlier, commenting about two young men that had been recently killed, a Sadr City official who declined to be named, called the young men “sexual deviants [whose] … tribes killed them to restore their family honor," according to a Reuters report.
Reuters also noted that prior to the murders, “Sermons condemning homosexuality were read [in late March] at … Friday prayer gatherings in Sadr City, a sprawling Baghdad slum of some 2 million people [that] … is a bastion of support for fiery Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia.”
"This (homosexuality) has spread because of the absence of the Mehdi Army, the spread of sexual films and satellite television and a lack of government surveillance," said the office's Sheikh Ibrahim al-Gharawi, a Shi'ite cleric.
While homosexuality is prohibited nearly everywhere in the Middle East, homosexual acts are punishable by up to seven years in prison in Iraq.
ABC News reported that “The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs believes as many as 30 people have been killed during the last three months because they were -- or were perceived to be -- gay.”
A Human Right Watch Iraq country report 2009, pointed out that “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are also vulnerable to attacks from state and non-state actors.”
Amnesty International, in a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, called for "urgent and concerted action" to end the violence against the gay community, the group reported on its Web site.
In an interview with EdgeBoston, Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Program who had been on a fact-finding mission to Iraq, responded to State spokesperson John T. Fleming's statement that “homosexuality is not a crime in Iraq,” by saying that Fleming’s statement "would be an interesting fact if the law, or the rule of law, mattered in Iraq.”
Wayman Hudson of the Bilerico Project recently pointed out that “While statistics have been hard to gather on the number of LGBT Iraqis killed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, it has recently been reported that at least 25 boys and men have been killed in Baghdad alone because they were either gay or believed to be.”
Now, after months of silence, the United States finally issued a sharply worded condemnation. When questioned by reporters, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said “In general, we absolutely condemn acts of violence and human rights violations committed against individuals in Iraq because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
This is an issue that we've been following very closely since we have been made aware of these allegations, and we are aware of the allegations. Our training for Iraqi security forces includes instruction on the proper observance of human rights.
“Human rights training is also a very important part of our and other international donors' civilian capacity-building efforts in Iraq. And the US embassy in Baghdad has raised, and will continue to raise, the issue with senior officials from the government of Iraq, and has urged them to respond appropriately to all credible reports of violence against gay and lesbian Iraqis.
Iraqi LGBT (http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspo
According to the website, “Funds raised will also help provide LGBTs under threat of killing with refuge in the safer parts of Iraq (including safe houses, food, electricity, medical help) and assist efforts help them seek refuge in neighboring countries.”
Less Unequal is Still Unequal -- Dump DOMA!
Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont now allow same-sex couples to marry and to enjoy the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage in those states. And thousands of same-sex marriages performed in California before the passage of Prop 8 ended equal marriage there are still valid according to a recent court ruling.
But in none of these places can someone in a same-sex marriage who has paid into the social security program collect survivors' benefits if his or her spouse were to pass away, nor receive the hundreds of other important federal benefits that heterosexual married couples are entitled to receive. This is because of the prohibitions contained in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
DOMA is a looming roadblock to full legal equality for same-sex couples ... a roadblock that candidate AND President-elect Barack Obama pledged to remove.
People For the American Way is collecting the names of Americans willing speak out and tell both the president and congressional leaders that the time has come to DUMP DOMA, and that they should act to do so now.
Please add your name to the petition and to this historic movement now: http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://bit.ly/2LyWq
Yesterday, President Obama announced that he is moving administratively to provide some benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees. This is a very small step in the right direction, but it's really just a token, and tokens are no longer enough. What stands in the way of real progress for all same-sex couples is DOMA, which denies the most important benefits -- healthcare, retirement, health insurance and more -- to anyone but "spouses" under DOMA's definition of marriage (ie. married heterosexual couples).
And sadly, the administration has not lived up to the president's earlier calls to repeal DOMA.
Last Friday, the Justice Department filed a legal brief in which it went far above and beyond simply defending DOMA as a federal policy against a court challenge. The brief cited laws regarding incest ... it called DOMA a policy of government "neutrality" (which it is clearly anything but) ... and it justified the government's continued discrimination on the basis that it's cheaper than expanding fundamental rights and protections.
There is no defense for the Defense of Marriage Act. Tell the president and Congress it's time for DOMA to go. Tell them to DUMP DOMA now: http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://bit.ly/2LyWq
Please speak up and remind our leaders now that less unequal is still unequal -- tell them to DUMP DOMA: http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://bit.ly/2LyWq
-- Your Allies at People For the American Way
P.S. You can read PFAW's statement on today's administrative action by Obama here: http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://bit.ly/17EDSP
It's Time To Repeal DADT
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: I Stand With Lt. Dan Choi, It's Time To Repeal DADT
I am firmly committed to repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. I plan to work with Lt. Choi to repair the damage to his career and spare thousands of brave men and women from the same injustice.Fred Karger sent a message to the members of Californians Against Hate
Read the whole story on: The Huffington Post
Fred Karger
Posted: June 17, 2009 02:28 PM
How to Win Back Same-Sex Marriage In California - Voter Registration
I spent three decades as a public affairs and political consultant. I spent a couple of hours at Los Angeles Gay Pride last Sunday.
Being heavily involved right now in our LGBT civil rights movement, it is important to observe what is going on out there. Several hundred thousand people attended the Sunday morning parade and the annual weekend festival. June is Gay Pride month, and there are literally dozens of cities in California that hold Pride weekends throughout June and all summer long.
Last year's Pride was particularity interesting, because much to our surprise, gay marriage had been made legal just weeks earlier, and it was going to take affect days later. What an exciting and historic time that was. What a difference a year makes.
I remember last year that there was no one registering voters the entire weekend of LA Pride. Odd I thought, since one year ago we knew in advance that Proposition 8 was very likely going to be on the November 4th ballot.
Voter registration is an essential element in all major political campaigns. Practically every campaign and every political party has conducted voter registration drives almost going back as far as George Washington. It's basic, nothing really new or innovative. The idea is, to register new voters who will vote with you in order to help your side get more votes than your opponents. Like I said, pretty basic.
This year I went into the Pride Festival to do a little test. I wanted to see what all was going on with voter registration.
I had assumed that our wonderful LGBT organizations (and they are incredible organizations) would have hundreds of people out registering LGBT voters and all our friends at LA Pride this year. I figured that they would be taking advantage of this mostly younger crowd, and get everyone at Gay Pride registered to vote. After all we very likely will be back on the ballot to repeal Prop 8 in less than 17 months.
As I went to my first LGBT political booth, I asked gently if there was a way to register to vote? A young bewildered volunteer said, "not really sure." I visited the over 20 more LGBT political booths, out of over several hundred at the festival. Sadly, I could not find one voter registration card! Not even one!!!
During my wanderings, I finally met a very nice girl who had heard that the Stonewall Democrats booth had some voter registration forms. She marched me right over there, and I was thinking bingo, but alas, after some searching around they first said "we ran out," then said, "sorry, we don't have any." Then the cute volunteer added, "good idea though."
200,000 to 300,000 LGBT individuals and so many of our friends were in one place, who all agree that marriage equality should return to California. You do the math. Talk about a missed opportunity!!!
I'm pretty certain that at least half of the mostly younger crowd at Pride is not registered to vote yet. Once they do register, they will be voting for let's say 70 more years on many more LGBT issues and for candidates who support us. That's a lot of Novembers and Junes. In California, all new voters have the option of checking a box to have an absentee ballot mailed to their home forever. Vote at home = very high turnout.
It's simple. Elections are won by who gets the most votes. We narrowly lost last year. Let's put on the biggest, most successful most fun voter registration program in California history. Let's give it a catchy name like "Milk the Vote" or "Register for Equality." Then brand it, use our massive volunteer force that has been and continues to be organized, and let's go get 600,000 new LGBT voters and our friends registered now. This new army should be everywhere the next 17 months where there is a gay event, rally, march, college campus and any place that there are more than 25 gay people assembled.
It's a lot of work, but if all our organizations and volunteers get behind "Milk the Vote," or whatever the name is, we can make up the 599,602 votes that we lost by and win next year's election to repeal Prop 8. Let's make sure that California once again leads the way on equality.
I appeal to all our very effective LGBT organizations to work together and make voter registration the number one activity between now and next October 18th (last day to register for the November 2, 2010 election).
Hell, people can even register on line: http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.sos.ca.gov/nvrc/fedform/ and then just print out the form and mail it in.
We lost by only 4% of the vote last year -- 599,602 votes out of the over 13.4 million cast on Prop 8. What a change from just 8 years earlier when we lost by 23%!
Please, make this the last Pride in California, or anywhere in the country for that matter, where we are not registering voters.
It is the smartest thing that we can be doing now and for our future.
--------------------
To reply to this message, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1098866160176&mid=a3e453G2c4faed8G1d26d1bG0
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Dump DOMA
Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont now allow same-sex couples to marry and to enjoy the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage in those states. And thousands of same-sex marriages performed in California before the passage of Prop 8 ended equal marriage there are still valid according to a recent court ruling.
But in none of these places can someone in a same-sex marriage who has paid into the social security program collect survivors' benefits if his or her spouse were to pass away, nor receive the hundreds of other important federal benefits that heterosexual married couples are entitled to receive. This is because of the prohibitions contained in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
DOMA is a looming roadblock to full legal equality for same-sex couples ... a roadblock that candidate AND President-elect Barack Obama pledged to remove.
A few months ago, you signed our petition to tell both the president and congressional leaders that the time has come to DUMP DOMA. In light of recent events, we need to renew our push to make this petition the biggest, best lobbying tool we can.
Please forward this e-mail to others or send them to www.DumpDOMA.com and ask them to join you in signing.
Tonight, President Obama announced that he is moving administratively to provide some benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees. This is a very small step in the right direction, but it's really just a token, and tokens are no longer enough. What stands in the way of real progress for all same-sex couples is DOMA, which denies the most important benefits -- healthcare, retirement, health insurance and more -- to anyone but "spouses" under DOMA's definition of marriage (ie. married heterosexual couples).
And sadly, the administration has not lived up to the president's earlier calls to repeal DOMA.
On Friday, the Justice Department filed a legal brief in which it went far above and beyond simply defending DOMA as a federal policy against a court challenge. The brief cited laws regarding incest ... it called DOMA a policy of government "neutrality" (which it is clearly anything but) ... and it justified the government's continued discrimination on the basis that it's cheaper than expanding fundamental rights and protections.
There is no defense for the Defense of Marriage Act. Help spread the word that less unequal is still unequal -- help get others to sign the petition at www.DumpDOMA.com.
-- Your Allies at People For the American WayProposition 8 may violate US Constitution
Defend a free-flowing Internet and support the Broadband Internet Fairness Act
Dear Friends,
We now have a chance to wrestle control of the Internet's future away from Time Warner Cable, Comcast, AT&T and other telco giants.
Rep. Eric Massa has just introduced a bill in Congress, called the Broadband Internet Fairness Act, that will restrict telcos' ability to charge outrageous rates for using the Internet. This bill would be the first step toward guaranteeing an open, fast and accessible Internet for all Americans.
Please visit the URL below to tell your member of Congress to support this important piece of legislation:
Thanks!Some Churches Support Gay Rights
Take my friend's pastor, a Lutheran minister who on Mother's Day said in his sermon,
I have a very hard time finding any reason to be afraid of what is happening in Massachusetts and Iowa and elsewhere. The institution of marriage is strong; it cannot be damaged by extending it to others who want to get married. On the contrary, marriage is strengthened by doing so.
Christianity is not out to get gays and lesbians, despite the popular perception. Not all churches are barring our way to equal rights. Indeed, some are opening the door.
Jennifer Vanasco is editor in chief of 365gay.comYou may read the full article inOutword and the Huffington Post
Tell Obama and Holder: Stop defending DOMA.
Subject: Tell Obama and Holder: Stop defending DOMA.
Dear Friends,They compared same-sex marriage to a marriage between an uncle and a niece. Or between two children. No, we're not talking about Rick Santorum. We're talking about the Obama administration's Justice Department. The brief the DOJ presented defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court was not just wrong. It was offensive. The New York Times called it "disturbing" in its lead editorial.
Back in the days of the 2008 campaign, Senator Obama promised he would work to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. But now that a gay couple in California is challenging DOMA in federal court, President Obama has chosen to take action to defend a law that prevents legally married same-sex couples from receiving any federal benefits, or from having their marriages recognized in other states.
I just signed a petition to tell President Obama and Attorney General Holder to withdraw this offensive brief and apologize for its contents. (The website also has a great video of Rachel Maddow and Howard Dean discussing the importance of this issue!) Please have a look and take action.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/doma_brief/?r_by=-1068490-Ddu1sWx&rc=confemail
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Product Placing The Gays
For years advertisers have given sly, subtle nods to homo consumers, a phenomenon coined by the Commercial Closet as "gay vague." Ramping up the visibility ever so slightly, a few brands have begun placing logos known mostly only to gays in their ads. Below left, an Orbitz ad features a man wearing an HRC golf shirt. Below right, an ad from Taco Del Mar features a surfer with a Gay & Lesbian Surfer Association sticker on his board.
(Taco Del Mar clip via Slog)
Thanks JMG for this
Tell Obama and Holder: Stop defending DOMA.
They compared same-sex marriage to a marriage between an uncle and a niece. Or between two children. No, we're not talking about Rick Santorum. We're talking about the Obama administration's Justice Department. The brief the DOJ presented defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court was not just wrong. It was offensive. The New York Times called it "disturbing" in its lead editorial.
Back in the days of the 2008 campaign, Senator Obama promised he would work to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. But now that a gay couple in California is challenging DOMA in federal court, President Obama has chosen to take action to defend a law that prevents legally married same-sex couples from receiving any federal benefits, or from having their marriages recognized in other states.
I just signed a petition to tell President Obama and Attorney General Holder to withdraw this offensive brief and apologize for its contents. (The website also has a great video of Rachel Maddow and Howard Dean discussing the importance of this issue!) Please have a look and take action.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/doma_brief/?r_by=-1068490-Ddu1sWx&rc=confemail
NY Times Slaps Obama
From the GIST:
In an editorial headlined "A Bad Call on Gay Rights," The New York Times calls the DOMA brief "disturbing," and slaps Obama for using the excuse of political expediency for denying gay and lesbian Americans their rights:
The Obama administration, which came to office promising to protect gay rights but so far has not done much, actually struck a blow for the other side last week. It submitted a disturbing brief in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, which is the law that protects the right of states to not recognize same-sex marriages and denies same-sex married couples federal benefits. The administration needs a new direction on gay rights.
Monday, June 15, 2009
An organized response to Obama's failure on GLBT rights
An organized response to Obama's failure on GLBT rights
by: Smartypants
Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 18:24:17 PM EDT
Pam's post on HRC's letter to President Obama asks a critical question: "What happens next if the President thumbs his nose at this letter?"
The question really got me thinking. What options are left to us when our purported friends and allies ignore an appeal to common decency?
Because it's pretty obvious our elected 'friends' are screwing us. Again.
And why not? They've gotten away with it before and never paid a price. Too many of these so-called friends and allies in elected office know that if they show up at a pride rally and occasionally vote for some mildly progressive measure on our behalf, as grateful GLBT constituents we will continue to be a reliable source of money and volunteers. And we won't make a fuss because we're afraid our very real enemies will take advantage of any division.
Read the full article at PHB.
Free Hugs Campaign
Free Hugs Campaign - Official Page (music by Sick Puppies.net )
youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4
Top Obama Gay John Berry: It's Going To Be A Long Time On LGBT Rights
Courtesy of JMG:
John Berry, the director of the Office of Personnel Management and the president's highest ranking openly gay appointee spoke to the Advocate's Kerry Eleveld after his speech at DC Pride yesterday (which I heard). Berry, who said he was speaking with the authorization of the White House, outlined a four-point list of LGBT rights that the Obama administration hopes to achieve, but stressed that the general timetable for these goals is "under the administration's watch", meaning including a potential second Obama term.
Berry went on to say that the gay community should not "waste energy and angst" attacking the president over last week's DOJ-DOMA flap, and instead should be working on getting the necessary votes to overturn DOMA in the House and Senate.We have four broad legislative goals that we want to accomplish and legislation is one of these things where you’ve got to move when the opportunity strikes, so I’m going to list them in an order but it’s not necessarily going to go one, two, three, four. Obviously, I think the first opportunity is hate crimes and we’re hopeful that we can get that passed this week. We’re going to try, but if not, we’re going to keep at it until we get it passed. The second one ENDA, we want to secure that passage of ENDA, and third is we want to repeal legislatively “don’t ask don’t tell,” and fourth, we want to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
Now, I’m not going to pledge -- and nor is the president -- that this is going to be done by some certain date. The pledge and the promise is that, this will be done before the sun sets on this administration – our goal is to have this entire agenda accomplished and enacted into law so that it is secure.
The Advocate: Does that include a second term? A lot of people have talked about DOMA being pushed back until a second term.
Berry: I say this in a broad sense -- our goal is to get this done on this administration’s watch.
Solmonese Writes To Obama
Human Rights Campaign head Joe Solmonese has written a lengthy letter to the president decrying last week's DOJ brief opposing the repeal of DOMA.
see: JMG post
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Quote of the day...
Para onde pode ir o apaixonado senão à terra de seu bem-amado? E qual apaixonado poderá ficar tranqüilo longe do desejo de seu coração? Para quem ama verdadeiramente, a união é a vida e a separação é a morte. O seu peito está vazio de paciência e o seu coração está privado de paz. Incontáveis vidas ele renunciará a fim de se apressar para onde se encontra o seu bem-amado.
4. O SON OF JUSTICE!
Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? And what seeker findeth rest away from his heart's desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved.
From
We read this at our wedding. It means a lot to me as it almost addresses our bi-national marriage.
Parada Gay movimenta avenida Paulista com 3,5 milhões de pessoas
Parada Gay movimenta avenida Paulista com 3,5 milhões de pessoas
Cerca de 3,5 milhões de pessoas devem tomar conta da avenida Paulista durante este domingo (14) na 13ª edição da Parada Gay da cidade de São Paulo. A festa, que é considerada a maior do mundo, começou às 12h20 e deve terminar por volta das 19h30. A expectativa, de acordo com a Associação da Parada do Orgulho LGBT de São Paulo, é que o evento reúna público recorde mais uma vez.
For those of you who cannot read, understand or falar the world’s most beautiful language UOL says:
Around 3.5 million people are expected on Avenida Paulista for this Sunday (14) in the 13th edition of the Gay Parade in
Courtesy of UOL.
CA Attorney General Brief: Prop 8 Violates 14th Amendment
CA Attorney General Brief: Prop 8 Violates 14th Amendment
Jim Burroway
June 13th, 2009
What a contrast between the California Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice. On the same day in which the Obama administration filed a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court defending the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,“ California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a very different brief in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the Prop 8 challenge brought by Ted Olson and David Boies.
Courtesy of Box Turtle
Quote of the Day
Cada um de nós é vários, é muitos, é uma prolixidade de si mesmos. Por isso aquele que despreza o ambiente não é o mesmo que dele se alegra ou padece. Na vasta colônia do nosso ser há gente de muitas espécies, pensando e sentindo diferentemente.
Each one of us is several, is many, is a profusion of selves. So that the self who disdains his surroundings is not the same as the self who suffers or takes joy in them. In the vast colony of our being there are many species of people who think and feel different ways.
Fernando Pessoa, Livro Do Desassossego. In Night Train to
Saturday, June 13, 2009
March on Washington
Our single demand:
Equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states.
Our philosophy:
As members of every race, class, faith, and community, we see the struggle for LGBT equality as part of a larger movement for peace and social justice.
Our strategy:
Decentralized organizing for this march in every one of the 435 Congressional districts will build a network to continue organizing beyond October.
California Communities United Institute
California Communities United Institute
To encourage people from different communities to work together in support of each other
See Extended Info | |
Positions: |
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Why Have We Stopped Talking About Guns?
http://www.truthout.org/061309Y
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, Truthout: "There is much talk about hate talk; hate crimes against blacks, whites, immigrants, Muslims, Jews; about violence committed in the name of bigotry or religion. But why don't we talk about guns?"
Coalition Of LGBT Groups Join To Condemn DOJ Motion To Dismiss DOMA Challenge
A coalition of LGBT groups have issued a joint statement condemning the Obama administration's motion to dismiss a challenge to the Defense Of Marriage Act. Via press release:
We are very surprised and deeply disappointed in the manner in which the Obama administration has defended the so-called Defense of Marriage Act against Smelt v. United States, a lawsuit brought in federal court in California by a married same-sex couple asking the federal government to treat them equally with respect to federal protections and benefits. The administration is using many of the same flawed legal arguments that the Bush administration used. These arguments rightly have been rejected by several state supreme courts as legally unsound and obviously discriminatory.
We disagree with many of the administration's arguments, for example that DOMA is a valid exercise of Congress's power, is consistent with Equal Protection or Due Process principles, and does not impinge upon rights that are recognized as fundamental. We are also extremely disturbed by a new and nonsensical argument the administration has advanced suggesting that the federal government needs to be "neutral" with regard to its treatment of married same-sex couples in order to ensure that federal tax money collected from across the country not be used to assist same-sex couples duly married by their home states.
There is nothing "neutral" about the federal government's discriminatory denial of fair treatment to married same-sex couples: DOMA wrongly bars the federal government from providing any of the over one thousand federal protections to the many thousands of couples who marry in six states. This notion of "neutrality" ignores the fact that while married same-sex couples pay their full share of income and social security taxes, they are prevented by DOMA from receiving the corresponding same benefits that married heterosexual taxpayers receive. It is the married same-sex couples, not heterosexuals in other parts of the country, who are financially and personally damaged in significant ways by DOMA. For the Obama administration to suggest otherwise simply departs from both mathematical and legal reality.
When President Obama was courting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters, he said that he believed that DOMA should be repealed. We ask him to live up to his emphatic campaign promises, to stop making false and damaging legal arguments, and immediately to introduce a bill to repeal DOMA and ensure that every married couple in America has the same access to federal protections.
Signed:
American Civil Liberties Union
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
Human Rights Campaign
Lambda Legal
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce
Friday, June 12, 2009
HRC Weekly Update from Joe Solmonese
Dear Daniel,
Before I share the week's news, let me begin by expressing our grief over the fatal shooting of a guard at the Holocaust Museum. As a community that faces the ongoing threat of hate-motivated violence, we know these individual acts are often designed to terrorize an entire community. Wednesday's shooting took place in the presence of school children who had come to the museum to learn its lessons of peace, remembrance and tolerance. This is one more sad reminder to recommit ourselves to stopping extremism and hate, whatever form it takes.
Today we received news of the Obama Administration's decision to defend the constitutionality of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act in a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of a married gay California couple. The couple rightfully claimed that DOMA is unconstitutional, and the Administration, stating that it had a duty to defend the statute, responded that the case should be dismissed. Their brief included a lengthy defense of DOMA's constitutionality. You can read the full brief here.
HRC immediately released a statement repudiating this ridiculous defense of DOMA, and called upon President Obama to show leadership in protecting our rights by sending a DOMA repeal bill to Congress. Read our full statement here.
With the 40th anniversary of Stonewall approaching, we are frustrated with the slow pace of progress on the issues that are critical to our community. The time for action is now. We have communicated loud and clear to the president that his duty to defend our community from discrimination is stronger than the duty to defend a law that harms us and that he has called “abhorrent.”
On Sunday our nation will observe Flag Day and with all that's swirling around us from the economy, to health care proposals, to an historic Supreme Court nomination, it is all too easy to forget that America is at war, with more than 195,000 military members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. We must not forget their service or their sacrifices, and join all of our fellow Americans in wishing for their safe return.
The day also reminds us that thousands of lesbian, gay, and bisexual women and men are also serving their country, often with distinction. They provide essential skills as linguists, bomb specialists, medics, infantry, and every other military specialty. They, too, put their lives on the line. But they alone shoulder an additional burden -- they must serve in silence, concealing who they are or risk discharge under the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy. More than 13,000 lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members have been discharged since DADT was enacted in 1993, with over 200 discharged since President Obama took office in January. And this past week, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to this discriminatory policy. You can read the Associated Press article for more on the Supreme Court's decision and HRC's reaction by clicking here.
We must end the discharges. Few examples have made this more vivid or real than the case of Lt. Dan Choi, an Arabic linguist facing discharge this month. President Obama could stop this discharge and any others that face him as Commander in Chief.
It's time to end these discharges, direct Congress to repeal the ban and ensure that the Pentagon creates and implements a thorough plan for implementing repeal.
To that end, I am pleased to announce that HRC has hired former U.S. Army veteran Jarrod Chaplowski to HRC to help expand our efforts and lend added urgency and a voice to this battle. Jarrod enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2000 and trained as a Korean linguist and cryptologic voice interceptor at the Defense Language Institute and Goodfellow Air Force Base, finishing second in his class. He worked as an interpreter and translator in Korea, supporting the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion on more than 300 sensitive reconnaissance operation missions, and as a squadron school's non-commissioned officer at Ft. Lewis, Wash., in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Jarrod has been featured on 60 Minutes, CNN's Situation Room, The Advocate, and over 100 piece of national and local media. He is also a principle subject in the upcoming PBS documentary Ask Not, which premieres on June 16.
In the meantime, let's remember all of our service members this Flag Day and the sacrifices each of them make for their country, and recommit ourselves to stopping the discharges and overturning Don't Ask, Don't Tell once and for all.
Warmly,
Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights Campaign
Quote of the Day
“The more difficulties one sees in the world the more perfect one becomes. The more you plow and dig the ground the more fertile it becomes. The more you cut the branches of a tree the higher and stronger it grows. The more you put the gold in the fire, the purer it becomes. The more you sharpen the steel by grinding the better it cuts. Therefore, the more sorrows one sees the more perfect one becomes. That is why, in all times, the Prophets of God have had tribulations and difficulties to withstand. The more often the captain of a ship is in a tempest and difficult sailing the greater his knowledge becomes. Therefore I am happy that you have had great tribulations and difficulties. For this I am very happy—that you have had many sorrows. Strange it is that I love you and still I am happy that you have had sorrows.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Fire and Gold p.13 in Star of the West Vol. 14 #2 p. 41
Revoked is a virus, worthy of WHO concern...
Since I can probably claim well over 2/3 of the USA hits -(for the postings I do) The folks in the Seychelles are statistically near the USA... a big howdy and a warm hello to the two hits in Afghanistan!
Onde estão os meus amigos Brasileiros, uai?
Leahy’s Immigration Provision Sows Sex Panic Among Key Religious Groups
Who is really pointing the dagger to the heart of immigration reform, the senator who seeks to include permanent partners (including gays) or the Bishops and evangelicals who oppose it?
the author concludes:
I was taught to take seriously the words, “whom God hath joined together let no one put asunder.”
These days I think it’s almost funny to hear pundits wondering why so many Americans, including so many Catholics <insert or Baha'is>, are giving up on religion altogether. Could it be on account of blinkered morality and irrational antics like this? Gee, I don’t know: Could it?
me: yep...To see full article: Religion Dispaches
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Controversy of the Day
Everyone who knows me knows I can't type well. An injury in an 8th grade wood shop class earned me both a shortened right index finger and a “C” in the course. Which allowed me to drop typing and to add chorus... definitely contributing towards making me gay as we learned to sing a few show tunes and musical hits.
Everyone who knows me knows that I can't spell well at all, now I don't spell well in 3 languages – MS Word and Open Office have helped me with this.
Everyone who knows me knows that my reading vision needs an upgrade (new glasses headed to me in 7-10 days), and also wonder why on earth a near sighted, lasiked dude uses a small min-computer to blog with (ans. I find the lugging around of ton laptops very unsightly.
There seems some concern by my hyper-literate, Berkeley grad son and his beautiful lady-friend about the spelling of this blog...
Let me explain
So there are some reasons, but after a great deal of market based research that took over 14 minutes, I decided upon REVOKED as Baha'is had revoked my administrative privileges and I was hoping mad. Mostly because, I wanted to celebrate my amazing talent to put my foot in my mouth with my inability to spell well.
Besides revolked, revocked seemed dumb, and well TheBahaisreallypissme off.blogspot seemed silly, tho it pretty much summed up my feeligns at the time. Rovoked was born, and few really great people snet their love, energy and disapointments...
So I revoked, just to be safe, and went to the defintion revoked - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and found, that my spelling actually was quite fine, thank you very much.
revoked
One entry found.
- Main Entry:
- 1re·voke
- Pronunciation:
- \ri-ˈvōk\
- Function:
- verb
- Inflected Form(s):
- re·voked; re·vok·ing
- Etymology:
- Middle English, from Anglo-French revocer, revoquer, from Latin revocare, from re- + vocare to call, from voc-, vox voice — more at voice
- Date: 14th century
transitive verb 1 : to annul by recalling or taking back : rescind <revoke a will> 2 : to bring or call back intransitive verb : to fail to follow suit when able in a card game in violation of the rules
re·vok·er noun
Quote of the Day
--Cesar Chavez
Me thinks thou dost...
Larry Stickney - Defender Of Marriage
Pam's House Blend contributor Lurleen has just posted an astounding evisceration of Larry Stickney, the campaign manager for Protect Marriage Washington, the group behind the effort to repeal that state's brand new "everything but marriage" domestic partners law. Among Lurleen's revelations is that the three-times married Stickney has had a restraining order issued against him by one of his ex-wives who alleged that he had beaten her. Stickney says that marriage equality "will demolish the historical understanding and definition of marriage as that of uniting a man and a woman for life." Life, or until she gets tired of you beating the crap out of her. Oh, and there is so much more.